


A Fun Game

by musicture (ronkytonks)



Series: Murder Mysteries [2]
Category: Assdefstuck
Genre: AU, POV Second Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 03:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3274226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ronkytonks/pseuds/musicture
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Aniese Wygott goes to a week-long party for spring break, she isn't expecting a murderer to be on the loose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Fun Game

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of old and rushed in some parts. It's a "Choose your own path" story I did with my datefriend and I was kind of proud of it so I'm posting it.

You feel cold as you follow Pendic across the small, damp wooden bridge that connects the island to the part of the island with the dock on it. Even though you have your jacket on, it's still early spring, and still slightly chilly. It's also around 7 pm though, so there's some explanation. Pendic happily talks at you, chatting on about how excited she is and how much you'll love spending spring break here. From what you heard, the ferry isn't due to come back until Friday or Saturday. You aren't sure if you'll like this break much, but you decide you'll make the best of it. You brought your phone, because since Darvin hadn't wanted to come, he'd demanded that you text him during the break.

 

When Pendic falls quiet, happily walking along with your and her backpacks over her shoulder, - she'd insisted - you pull your phone out from your jacket pocket. You touch the "messages" icon and check. Your heart sinks when you find the "Failed to send" sign next to the message. You touch it to resend. After a heartbeat, it fails again. You tap it a few more times, a little frustrated with it not sending, then sigh and give up. You hope you can get some wifi soon. Darvin will be so mad at you if you don't talk to him.

 

You skip up a little to walk side by side by Pendic. You poke the bridge of your glasses so that they slide up your nose more. "H-H-Hey P-Pendic?" you ask, blinking widely.

 

She looks to you, smiling. "Yeah?"

 

"I-I-Is th-th-there w-w-wifi h-here?" You feel a little silly asking it. You feel like one of those teen bloggers who are entirely dependent on internet connectivity. Which you aren't.

 

Pendic bites her lip, looking up, then shrugs and looks back to you. "I don't remember Aissil and Conrad saying anything about there being wifi here. I'll ask for you when we get up there!"

 

You quietly thank her, smiling a little. You offer to take one of the backpacks, and you two fake quarrel over it before Pendic fakes being exasperated and hands you her backpack. You two giggle, because you're carrying each other's backpacks.

 

When you two reach the house, you marvel at it. It's pretty big. Bigger than your apartment. Then again, a mobile home could easily be bigger than your apartment. You stand behind Pendic as she knocks on the door. When the door is pulled open, a blonde-haired kid wearing a hoodie, who looks tubby and kind of cute, smiles a bit.

 

"Hey," he says, before stepping back a little to let you and Pendic in. You feel a little nervous. Pendic doesn't seem nervous at all as she happily talks to him. The kid closes the door, and you find out that that's Conrad. She asks about the wifi, and your heart sinks when he shakes his head.

 

"Nah, there's no wifi here. That was almost the dealbreaker for Ace, though," he jokes. He talks about how 'Ace' would die without internet. You don't know who that is.

 

Conrad gives you two directions to the stairs that lead upstairs, and tell you two that you can choose any room, besides the one he and Ace are in. Pendic thanks him and you follow her as you walk to the stairs.

 

You shyly ask Pendic who Ace is. Pendic glances back at you, then smiles. "That's just Aissil's nickname. His brother and sister call him that, from what I know."

 

"O-O-Oh. O-Okay." You blink as you walk. You glance into the bedrooms as you walk. You two pass one with a boy lounging backwards in the bottom bunk and a girl hanging over the top and happily talking to him. They both have darker skin, and look vaguely Hispanic.

 

There's no one else in the other rooms, you two must have been early, even though the invite said to be there at 7. Oh well. You and Pendic play rock, paper, scissors to decide who is top and who is bottom.

 

You stick your tongue out at Pendic, giggling as you sit down on your bunk, and Pendic climbs to the top. She asks you to toss her backpack up, so you hand it to her. You glance around the room. There's a dresser by the door, and a floor lamp in the corner of the room, illuminating it. There's a pretty painting of a flower framed and hung up on the wall facing the end of the bunks.

 

You decide to unpack, and Pendic follows your lead. You unzip the pouch of your bag, and you see that everything's neatly packed like you remember. Your inhaler is on the top, your shirts folded neatly, your undies and socks under that, and two pairs of jeans and a few skirts at the bottom. You take advantage of the dresser near the door and store all of your clothes in there.

 

"Anieeeeese I'm too lazy to climb down can you put my clothes up for me." Pendic hangs over the top, making a puppy dog face at you.

 

You sigh, making it a bit louder than it really needs to be, and you make grabby hands for Pendic's bag. She happily thanks you and tosses it down to you. You barely manage to catch it. "Y-Y-You g-g-get to p-pack m-m-my cl-clothes wh-wh-when it-it's time t-to l-leave."

 

Pendic groans, but accepts the terms and conditions. You giggle, and neatly put away Pendic's clothes as well. You notice a nintendo at the bottom of your bag, and then immediately feel happy she brought it. You brought your's too. You can play Animal Crossing together.

 

You lay her bag on the floor next to the bunks, then sit on the bottom bunk. You look up when you hear the front door open downstairs, and you hear different voices.

 

You lie down in your bed, not wanting to go downstairs with the rush of new people. You wonder if that's the rest of the people. Maybe, maybe not. You hear Pendic shift above you, and you see her arm swing down to dangle in the space on the side of her bed.

 

"Heeeey Anieeeese."

 

"Y-Yeah?"

 

"Hi."

 

You give her a lame upside-down high five. "H-Hi."

 

Pendic giggles, then pulls her arm back up. "You excited for this week?"

 

 

"N-Not r-r-really," you answer quietly.

 

Pendic shifts above you, and you blink when you see her dangle upside down over the side of the bed. Her hair isn't as long as yours, but it still looks long upside down. "Why not?"

 

"I-I'm a-actually k-k-kind of s-s-scared." You cross your arms a little, even though it's more you're hugging yourself.

 

"Ohh. Well don't worry, I know mostly everyone who's coming." She smiles at you. "You'll be safe with me, okay?"

 

"O-Okay..." You don't feel like the presense of your friend is enough to clear everything from your mind, but you don't say anything else.

 

Pendic holds her hand out, and you gently take it. She squeezes your hand and smiles again at you. Her face is getting redder from being upside down. "You'll be okay, I promise."

 

You give your friend a small smile, then watch as she quickly flings herself back upright. She makes a disgruntled noise, and you hear her fall back against her mattress. "Holy shit talk about a headrush." You giggle. Then you feel uncomfortable, arm hairs pricking and you look to your side because it feels like someone's looking at you.

 

Your heart jumps in your chest when you see a boy with black hair, sunglasses, pale freckled skin, black jeans, and a black shirt with a red question tie-dyed onto it. Your skin crawls and your heart thumps loudly, before the boy jumps when another male voice calls, "Skinnr dude, come on!" The boy rushes out of your sight.

 

"P-Pendic?"

 

"Huh? Yeah?"

 

"D-D-Did you s-s-see th-that b-b-boy th-that was b-b-by our d-door?"

 

"Boy?"

 

You shift in your bed, sitting up a little. "Y-Yeah, h-he w-w-was s-staring a-at m-me."

 

"What'd he look like?"

 

"H-He had s-s-sunglasses o-on a-and w-was in a-all b-black."

 

"Oh that's Skinnr. Yeah, he's kind of creepy, but he's pretty sweet. No one knows if he's blind or not. It's a rumor that he is."

 

You feel a little bad, because if he was blind, then he wasn't being creepy, he was probably just lost.

 

You sigh, and turn over onto your side, back to the door. Your heart beats a little quicker, and you suddenly feel lightly naseous. Why had you let Pendic get you to come? You bite your lip. If you could stay in bed the entire time, you will.

 

You hear Pendic shift in her bed for the millionth time, and look up as the bunks rattle. You see Pendic climbing down the wooden ladder carefully. She grins at you. "Come on let's go explore."

 

"I-I d-d-don't r-really w-want t-t-to, P-Pendic," you murmur, sitting up in your bed. You're careful so that you don't hit your head.

 

Pendic gives you a puppy dog look and climbs into your bed. She wraps her arns around your shoulder's and bumps her forehead into your's.

 

"Pleeeeeeeease."

 

"P-Pendic..."

 

"Pleaaaaaaaase Aniese." She pokes her lower lip out.

 

You sigh again, and hug Pendic back. "F-Fiiiine."

 

"Whoo!" Pendic nuzzles your cheek with her's before letting go and sliding out of the bed. You follow her out of the door.

 

Pendic grabs your hand and gladly leads you down the hall towards the stairs. The place's air is a bit more lively, and you hear talking. You pass different rooms with different people in them. You try not to stare at them, and walk. Pendic pulls you down tbe stairs and you stumble a little because of how excitedly Pendic tugs you down. You skip over the last step, squeezing her hand. You smile a little.

 

"S-Slow d-d-down P-Pendic."

 

Pendic slows down. She looks back at your with an excited smile on her face. "Sorry I'm excited."

 

"I c-can s-see th-that."

 

You two walk to the left of the staircase, following the wall until you reach the living room. A girl who looks a little older than you is lounging on the couch with a younger boy sprawled out on her lap. He looks like a freshman, if not younger. You see Conrad walk out of the kitchen, an apron on. He sees you and Pendic and smiles, waving.

 

"Hey guys!"

 

You attempt a small smile, but you slightly hide behind Pendic, shy. She's shorter than you - she only comes up to your shoulders - so you aren't really fully hidden. Pendic happily greets Conrad, holding your hand and pulling you along as she walks.

 

When you're close enough, you peek into the kitchen. The Hispanic-looking boy you saw earlier is in there, stirring something in a blue bowl. His apron says "Hot Mama" with little flames around it. You think it's funny.

 

"So how do you guys like it so far?" Conrad asks you two, wiping his hands on his apron.

 

Pendic happily tells him she thinks it's really cool here. Shd glances at you for your answer.

 

 

"I-It's g-great!" you smile, forcing a little enthusiasm out. You really just want to go to bed and stay there. You cough a little, having swallowed the wrong way. Pendic looks up at you in alarm, but you wave her off.

 

However, you do remember you accidentally left your inhaler upstairs.

 

"Oh, P-Pendic," you say quietly. Pendic looks to you. "I-I forgot m-my inh-haler. I-m g-gonna g-go get i-i-it."

 

Pendic nods and smiles at you. "I'm gonna help Conrad and Aissil out with food, then, since they seem like they need some help. Don't die or anything," she jokes.

 

You give her a half smile before going back and going upstairs. You walk all the way to the end of the hall, disappointed that Pendic had to choose the farthest from the stairs. You go into your room. There's only one room after yours before it leads to the glass doors that look like they open to a balcony. You go to your backpack and open it, then dig your inhaler out. After putting it in your pocket, you start to walk out. You feel safer with it.

 

"Hey."

 

You nearly jump out of your skin, then look to the creepy boy from earlier. He stands by your door frame, but you didn't see him until you walked out the door. You stop. He stares at you, but really a little lower at your face, and at your neck instead.

 

You grimace, but hesitantly say "H-Hey."

 

The creepy boy smiles a little. You'd like to say it's a creepy smile, but it looks more like he's attempting

to be pleasant.

 

"That's a first."

 

You raise an eyebrow. He continues. "Usually people think I'm creepy and just walk away. You actually answered."

 

"R-Really." That's not surprising.

 

"Wh-Why we-we-were you w-waiting f-for m-me t-t-to c-come o-out of m-my r-room?" you ask, blinking down at him.

 

"I wanted to meet you."

 

"Th-that's n-not r-really h-how y-you d-do it..." Then again, you're not an expert either. You both jump when a guy calls from the room next to your's.

 

"Skinnr where'd you go buddy?"

 

The boy turns around. "I'm right here! I'm talking to uhh..." He looks to you for your name.

 

"A-Aniese."

 

"I'm talking to Aniese!" The boy, Skinnr, says. He gkances back to you. "Pretty name."

 

You blush slightly and shrug. You blink when a boy walks out of the room next to yours. He blinks at you, and smiles a little. He looks Asian. His hair is spiked up, probably with

gel, and the front of it is dyed purple, and the rest is black. He has on a hoodie and shorts.

 

"Sorry," he says to you. "Skinnr's kind of weird."

 

You shrug and say it's okay. You notice Skinnr slightly pouting at his friend's side. His friend sticks his hand out towards you, smiling in a friendly manner.

 

"I'm Xemnes. I'm s'posed to be watchin' over this dude here."

 

Skinnr frowns and pouts, staring at nothing. "I'm not completely blind I don't need you escorting me everywhere."

 

You smile shyly and shake Xemnes's hand. It's slightly bigger than yours, and warm. When you let go, you shyly tell him your name. He smiles at you before continuing to quarrel with his friend.

 

"Excuse me, 'legally blind'. It doesn't really make a difference though, man." He tapped Skinnr's glasses. "Those were the strongest prescrip they had and you still run into things."

 

Skinnr huffs and punches his friend's side. Xemnes coughs a little, then hugs Skinnr around the shoulders. You stand there like the most awkward person ever.

 

Deciding you're not really apart of the conversation anymore, you shyly turn and start walking. You hear footsteps behind you, and your heart pounds. You need Pendic. You press your hands into your coat pockets and play with your inhaler, trying to breathe calmly.

 

"Yo, Aniese, mind if we walk with you?" you hear Xemnes say. He pulls up next to you, smiling. Skinnr's holding onto his hand and blushing and staring down.

 

"N-No, I d-don't mind," you say shyly, looking to them. Xemnes smiles brightly at you. He's certainly a friendly one.

 

So you and him chat, Skinnr occasionally pitching onto the conversation as you three walk down the hall. You find yourself relaxing just a little bit. Xemnes is a little similar to Pendic. He's nice and he's enthusiastic. You three go down the stairs, and when you reach the kitchen you part ways.

 

You walk up to Pendic, who's happily preparing salads. She looks to you when you stop beside her. "Hi," you smile shyly. She smiles and nudges you.

 

"What took so long?"

 

You tell Pendic about Skinnr and Xemnes, and about what all you three talked about. You stop when you find her wiggling her eyebrows at you.

 

"...Wh-what?"

 

"You liiiiiiiike him." She smiles, giggling.

 

You blush and shake your head hard, pushing her a little. She laughs and pokes your nose before going back to salads.

 

The Hispanic boy is drinking a soda from a glass, and you watch as he downs it all in one go. Wow. He sets the glass down, panting but grinning. He looks to you. "Hey, I'm Aissil."

 

You shyly step slightly behind Pendic.

 

You smile shyly at Aissil and wave. He grins back at you and does that frilly finger-wave thing before going back to making food. Pendic sighs and steps back, finished making salads.

 

"Whoo that was fun."

 

You look to her, then kiss her forehead. She smiles at you and pokes your chin. "Let's go to the livingroom."

 

You nod, but blink at some crumpled papers you see in the sink.

 

You tell Pendic to wait a moment, and you stride to the sink and pull out the papers. They're slightly wet, but you go back to Pendic and ask her where the trash bin is. She points, but asks what the papers are. You look down at them.

 

You unfold the papers. There's writing on each page, with a number on each one. You read the o e labelled "#1" before reading "#2". Weird. You hand them to Pendic and she reads them aloud.

 

"This is a story of the predator and the prey.

One bright day, a prince went out for a walk. Oh, the kingdom was beautiful, he thought. The sky was blue, the sun was bright, and salty sea air filled his nose. As the prince walked through the village, he felt unnerved by the impurity." Pendic raises an eyebrow as she slides "#2" in front of it. "

The prince passed through the village. One man, he found, was quite the jokester. He found the man laughing, trying to pass on his sickness of humor. His jokes seemed like garbage spilling out of his mouth."

 

Pendic flipped the pages back and forth, then looked to you. She shrugged. "Weird."

 

You make grabby hands at the writings, then fold them carefully and drop them into your pocket. Pendic tips her head at you.

 

"S-Someone m-m-might've l-lost it." You blink at her. Pendic smiles and calls you sweet, before taking your hand and pulling you to the living room.

 

You swallow when you see more people in the room before. The earlier girl and boy are still in there, but Conrad is now sitting next to them and chattering to them. A dark skinned girl is in an arm chair, and a dark skinned boy is sitting in front of her, legs criss cross apple sauced as he talks to her, looking bored and also annoyed. You see Pendic immediately brighten up at the sight of him.

An orange-headed girl is sitting on the carpet by the porch door, chatting away with a blonde girl who has on a jacket.

 

You look to Pendic when she bounces, looking to you pleadingly.

 

"What?" You tip your jead at her.

 

Pendic bounces on her heels, smiling. A blush highlights her cheeks. "It's him!!" she squeals in a whisper.

 

"Who?"

 

"Antemh!!!!!"

 

Oh god.

 

You roll your eyes ar her ridiculousness, but ask if she wants you to leave her alone with him. Pendic blushes. "Pleeeeease?"

 

You stick out your tongue, but smile a little and hug her. "You-You're c-cute."

 

You glance around at the living room before heading back to the kitchen. You quietly say "H-Hi", but scream when you see what you see. Your voice was loud enough for the entire house to hear, but you shake and your heart pounds and you have trouble breathing.

 

Aissil is slumped on the floor, propped up by the counter. Blood is trickling down his mouth, his eyelids half closed. Blood is seeping from his stomach and staining his clothes.

 

Your shoulders shake and you can't help but start crying. You grip the door frame, not able to make yourself move. Conrad is the first to run in, and Pendic comes next, stopping and staring when she see's Aissil. She presses her hand against her mouth, then slowly scoots to you, not looking away from Aissil.

 

Conrad kneels down next to Aissil, eyes wide. "D-Dude stop... stop pretending. Stop being a dick Aissil."

 

Aissil doesn't move when Conrad shakes his shoulder. Conrad's hands are shakey, and he looks like he's trying not to cry.

 

The others in the house have crowded near the entrance, eyes wide. A younger voice cries "Aissil!!" and you see a younger girl push past everyone and run into the kitchen. She stops in front of him, and Conrad lookeys up at her, shaking. Th look to each other, then the younger girl kneels down on Aissil's other side, biting her lip. Conrad pushes up Aissil's shirt, and you almost throw up. The skin on his stomach has been almost entirely dissolved, showing his insides. You look away, having trouble breathing.

 

You leave the scene, pushing through the strangers and going to the livingroom. You sit down on the couch and hunch over, putting your head in your hands and propping your elbows on your legs. You cry. That scared you so badly, that sight... Not to mention that someone is dead. You want to go home.

 

You look up a little, sniffling when Pendic sits next to you. She leans her head against you and hugs you, face pale and a scared expression on her face. You don't say anything as you hug her back, sniffling and crying.

 

Another girl, the girl who'd been on the couch earlier, comes into the living room, eyes dim. She sits on your other side, staring down at the ground. You glance at her. She has short dark brown hair. She's wearing a grey shirt and green pants. She glances at you and catches you looking.

 

"A-Are you o-o-okay?" you ask quietly.

 

The girl stares at you for a moment, then shrugs and looks down. She doesn't look like she's up for conversation.

 

Slowly, a few more people come back to the living room, sitting down. And a few more people. And more, until the only people not in there are Conrad, the boy you saw before, and the smaller girl you saw. Pendic glances around, looking a little confused.

 

"I-Is someth-thing wr-wrong?" you quietly ask Pendic. She frowns, eyebrows furrowed.

 

"I don't see Dadevu."

 

The girl next to you glances up at the mention of Dadevu. "She was taking a nap last time I saw."

 

"Oh, okay."

 

You hug Pendic, glancing around for the mystery girl. You don't know who she is. You blink when you see another crumpled piece of paper underneath the coffee table.

 

You wiggle, then slide off the couch. You have to push through a few people, but you reach underneath the table and retrieve the paper. When you get back to the couch, the girl and Pendic are looking at you oddly. You hold up the paper, blushing a little and feeling silly.

 

You pull out the last two papers, showing them to the girl. You explain where you found them, but you don't know what they're really about. You say you hope to return them to whoever lost them.

 

The girl motions for you to give her the paper you just retrieved, after reading the first two.

 

"The prince saw a woman, slow in nature," the girl began reading, frowning. "She sat there, then slowly turned her eyes to his. Her eyes were empty and lifeless, to him. He backed away, feeling like his breath had been taken away." She frowned, then her eyes widened only slightly, and she looked around for a moment, then handed the paper back to you.

 

The girl frowns, glancing around, then looks to you. In a low voice, she says, "What if Aissil was killed by someone?"

 

You blink, eyes wide. "Wh-What?!" Pendic looks to you, then tips her head.

 

The girl shrugs, then looks down at the papers. She hands you #2. "Read this with Aissil in mind."

 

You shrug a little.

 

You frown but take the paper to read. You read it twice, then look to Sarlla. "H-He did s-seem l-like s-someone w-who made j-jokes..."

 

The girl nodded a bit, taking the paper back. "I'm mostly thinking of how his death related to it. His stomach... you saw. He had blood, y'know, spilling out of his mouth." The girl frowned, shoulders raising. "That's why that second paper scares me. I haven't seen Dadevu down here."

 

Pendic blinks, intrigued by the conversation. Her eyes widen.

 

You look to Pendic, eyes wide, then you stand up, starting towards the stairs quickly. Both the girl and Pendic follow you, and you three get a few looks as you go to the stairs. You happen to glance in the kitchen. You see Conrad, the girl from earlier, and the boy from earlier in there, quietly crying but trying to clean the blood off of Aissil. Your heart clenches and you stare forward.

 

Pendic goes in front of you, skipping up the stairs quickly. You and the girl follow, hurrying.

 

Pendic turns into a room, and you two follow her. Your heart clenches tightly as you see Pendic climb up on top of the bottom bunk, and stand to poke at the girl in the top bunk.

 

Your shoulders sag with relief when the girl groans. "What do you waaaaant I'm sleeping."

 

You start crying for the second time today. The girl looks to you, then gently rubs your shoulder to comfort you. The girl in the bunk, Dadevu, sits up, looking at you and the girl.

"Sarlla what's goin' on?" Dadevu adjusts her glasses on her face, shrugging her shoulders.

 

You sniffle, rubbing your eyes. You sniffle and Pendic jumps down, walking to you. She hugs you and rubs your back, petting your hair to calm you down. You hug her and hide your face, your shoulders shaking.

 

"Aissil's dead." Sarlla blinks at Dadevu, shoulders sagged.

 

"What?!" Dadevu sits up and scoots out of the bunk, jumping down. "Stop joking that's not funny."

 

"I'm not joking."

 

Dadevu stares at Sarlla, before her eyebrows pinch. "How?"

 

Pendic pets your hair and squeezes you before letting go. She asks you if you want to go downstairs with Sarlla and Dadevu. You nod, sniffling. You two take each other's hands and follow Sarlla and Dadevu downstairs.

 

You and Pendic go back to the living room, and sit down. The small asian boy from earlier comes into the room, face red from crying. He sniffles and sits down on the couch.

 

"Are you okay?" you gently ask the boy.

 

The boy sniffles, wiping his eyes. He looks to you, eyes red from crying. "That was my boyfriend," he quietly says.

 

You open your mouth, then close it, feeling horrible, even though you did nothing wrong.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry," you say quietly. The boy shrugs and sniffles, looking down.

 

Sarlla comes back in a few moments later, then squeezes between the boy and the arm of the couch. The boy presses into her, starting to cry again. Sarlla hugs him tightly.

 

You feel absolutely terrible, as if you could have prevented this. You hug Pendic miserably. You see a few people messing with their phones in frustration.

 

Eventually, Dadevu comes into the room, sitting near a corner. She looks miserable. You wouldn't blame het. Finally, Conrad and the younger girl come back into the living room, holding hands tightly. You're pretty sure they were Aissil's siblings.

 

"Aissil's dead," Conrad says quietly. The room is quiet, everyone looks at him. "It looked like- like something ate through his stomach. A-Acklin said it looked like acid ate through his stomach." Conrad swallows, looking like he's about to cry again. "Does.. does anyone know how that might have happened?"

 

You timidly raise your hand, eyebrows pinched. Conrad looks to you, sniffling subtly. "A-Aissil u-um... Wh-when I w-was im th-the k-k-kitchen e-earlier w-with P-Pendic h-he um... s-seemed r-r-really th-thirsty," you mumble. "H-He, d-d-downed a-an en-entire g-g-glass of, o-of s-something I d-d-dunno wh-what.." You immediately feel dumb for speaking up, everyone's eyes on you.

 

Antemh, the boy Pendic was with earlier, speaks up. "So someone might of poisoned him?"

 

Everyone is quiet at the thought. No one seems quite willing to believe that anyone would do something like that.

 

You glance to Antemh, wanting to mention the papers, but your shoulders slump and you stay quiet. You aren't even sure if they're related at all. Sarlla looks to you, gently petting Lobran's hair, and you bite your lip, shrugging.

 

Sarlla looks to Conrad. "She found some papers that we think might be related to Aissil dying." She nods towards you. Your heart beats quicker.

 

You don't say anything, but you do look to Conrad. You feel nervous, scared you might be accused of killing Aissil even though you're the one who found him. Conrad shifts and walks to you, still holding his sister's hand.

 

"Can I um.. see?" he asks almost shyly, looking to you. He looks broken.

 

You nod, then dig in your jacket pockets and pull out all three papers so far and give them to Conrad. Your hands are shaking, even moreso than they usually do. When you sit back, Pendic hugs your arm, looking up at Conrad. You sniffle quietly, blinking at him as he reads them.

 

You quietly explain to Conrad what Sarlla had explained to you, pointing out the similarities to how Aissil died. You nervously and quietly tell him you're afraid of someone else dying, too. You're close to tears again, throat closing up. You wheeze, then pull out your inhaler, pressing it to your mouth and breathing in. Pendic gently pets your hair to calm you down. You swallow and put your inhaler back, shoulders shaking.

 

Conrad reads the papers again, then glances around, eyes wide. He swallows. "So, someone killed Aissil?"

 

No one speaks. Mulling over the information, it seems more likely that someone killed him, rather than it being a freak accident. You swallow hard, feeling like throwing up briefly as you think of what you saw.

 

Conrad breathes in shakily, then grabs his sister's hand again. She sniffles, staring down as she presses against his arm. "There's no wifi here, I think everyone's checked. The last ferry was the last one until next Thursday. We're the only ones on the island."

 

Your heart beats quickly as you realize just what kind of situation you're in. You huddle against Pendic slightly, who mimics your action and hugs you. You see Aissil's boyfriend snuggled in Sarlla's arm's, lip trembling.

 

"So is one of us the one who killed him?" The orange haired girl you saw earlier asks. Her face is covered in freckles, and she looks like she could be Pendic's sister. "Or is it some murderer running around on the island?"

 

You don't know which is scarier.

 

Conrad looks around at everyone, and no one speaks. You swallow. He breathes in, then sighs. "I don't know."

 

His little sister tugs on his sleeve, and he looks down at her. "What are we going to do with Aissil?" she asks quietly. You feel your heart sink.

 

You raise your hand, face sad. Conrad looks to you. "M-Maybe... w-w-we c-c-could wr-wrap h-him i-i-in a b-bedsheet. A-And, I d-d-dunno, p-put him s-somewhere n-n-near th-the house. A-And p-p-put f-flowers o-on him. An-And w-we can g-get h-help once th-the f-ferry c-c-comes back."

 

Conrad's face softens, and he nods. He glances around, then looks to you and nods again. He swallows, raising his arm and wiping his face. His little sister's lip trembles and she presses her cheek against Conrad's arm. She nods without looking at you. You feel like your heart is breaking for them.

 

"I guess, there's no use leaving him in there any longer. I'll go get some sheets," Conrad says. He bends and kisses his sister's forehead, and tells her to stay in the living room. The girl nods and sits down on the floor, pulling her legs up and sniffling.

 

Conrad glances around. "I'll need, um, some help, to get him out, when I get back down. Is, is anyone interested...?"

 

You raise your hand, swallowing. Conrad nods. Pendic raises her hand as well and so does Skinnr. You glance over at Aissil's sister, and swallow. You feel terrible for her. You glance at Sarlla when you hear her speak.

 

"Hey, Arsoni, c'mere," she says quietly, opening her other arm that's not around the boy.

 

Arsoni, the girl, sniffles and gets up. She trudges over to Sarlla, then climbs onto the couch and presses into Sarlla's side. Sarlla wraps her arm around Arsoni, and she starts crying more, fingers tangling in Sarlla's shirt. Your heart clenches and your lip trembles a bit. You want to cry.

 

When Conrad comes back down, he has a bundle of a blanket in his arms, and he motions you, Pendic, and Skinnr to follow him. You get up and walk after him into the kitchen. Aissil's shirt has been pulled back down. They washed what they could of the blood off his shirt and off of him. Your shoulders shake a little as you start to cry. Pendic takes your hand gently, then goes to help Conrad wrap Aissil in the blanket. You look to Skinnr. He stares forward, and you find it a little unnerving, but remind yourself he's basically blind. You gently tap his shoulder, and he looks your way.

 

"A-Are you o-okay?" you gently ask.

 

Skinnr shrugs a little. "I hardly knew the guy," he says quietly. He doesn't elaborate, and you don't ask him to. You shift a little uncomfortably, though.

 

Pendic and Conrad look to you and Skinnr after they neatly wrap Aissil. You sniffle and wipe your eyes, tapping Skinnr to let him know it's time to help. You two walk to them, then bend over. Together, all four of you lift him.

 

"Where should we take him?" Pendic asks, looking to everyone.

 

"I-I-Is th-there a g-garden?" you ask quietly.

 

Conrad blinks, then nods, sniffling. "Yeah. Arsoni and Aissil planted it with mom." He looks like he wants to cry more.

 

"Wh-What ab-ab-about th-there?"

 

Conrad looks to Pendic and Skinnr, and they nod. He nods as well. "Yeah. Let's go then."

 

All four of you lift Aissil out of the house, and Conrad leads you four down a path into some woods. All of you are unnerved, at least what you can tell. You feel tense, and swallow, chest tightening. For a brief moment, you wonder if Conrad was the killer. What if he was leading you to your deaths?

 

You swallow, and glance around. You sigh when you see a moonlit garden. It's pretty, and a good place to put Aissil. Emotion rises in your throat, and tears begin to slip down your face again. You can't believe someone's dead. All four of you walk to a stone bench, and then gently lay Aissil on his back, or what you four think is his back. You shiver, starting to cry silently. Pendic notices, and scoots to you to hug you.

 

You hug her back, quietly crying. Conrad sniffles, your crying not helping him. You swallow and let go of Pendic to help Conrad pick a few flowers. You wipe at your face, but tears still fall. Pendic helps pick flowers too, but Skinnr stands cluelessly by the body, staring forward.

 

You stand up, a daisy and rose in hand, and you lean over to gently tuck them into the sheets before you tap Skinnr's shoulder. He jumps, then turns his head your direction.

 

"W-We're p-p-picking f-f-flowers, i-if y-you're interest-t-ted," you mumble quietly.

 

Skinnr nods, glasses sliding down his nose. He sighs and takes them off, clipping them on his shirt. You blink at him. His face is freckle-dotted, and he's kind of cute. Puppy dog cute. You take his wrist and lead him to some flowers, and he gently touches the petals of the flowers befire moving a hand to pick one from the dirt.

 

You pick a pretty flower - or what you assume is pretty; it's dark - and gently reach to tuck it behind Skinnr's ear. He raises his hand up to touch the flower, then smiles a little when he feels the petals. He swallows, then picks a few more flowers before standing up. You assume he's ready to place his flowers, and you take his wrist to lead him to the body. Conrad and Pendic have already placed their flowers, so Skinnr's the last one to place his. He takes the one from behind his ear, and feels Aissil's face under the sheets and places the flower closest to where he feels his ear is.

 

You look to Conrad and Pendic, and then you take Skinnr's wrist as you four begin walking back to the house. It's quiet on the walk back, and you can hear the sea crashing over the shores of the island. As you four reach the house, Skinnr pauses to put his glasses back on.

 

You watch as Pendic and Conrad go in, then you turn to Skinnr. "Wh-Why d-d-do y-you w-wear sung-glasses?" you ask quietly, curious.

 

Skinnr is quiet for a moment, then shrugs a little. You can see a slight blush on his cheeks. "My eyes are really sensitive to light, so I need them or else I'll get a headache. They're also like, glasses too, sunglasses-glasses I guess." He shrugs again. "I also feel safer with them."

 

You tip your head. Skinnr shrugs, biting his cheek. "I get kind of nervous around people. I guess my glasses make me feel braver around them."

 

You pause, and then you lightly hug him, careful and expecting him to push you away any moment. He surprises you when he gently hugs you back, and you two hug for a few moments. You feel like you both need it. Then you let go, and escort Skinnr inside. You glance around when you get to the living room. A few people already left the room, Pendic among those people.

 

You go to the living room and curl up on the corner of the couch. Conrad and Arsoni aren't in the room. You figure they went to their room to grieve alone. Dadevu, Pendic, Sarlla, Antemh, and that younger boy aren't in there either. You hear some of the others in the game room. Skinnr excuses himself to go upstairs for the night. You sniffle, and hug yourself.

 

You pull out your phone and turn it on. You stare at the "No wifi" symbol, and your heart spikes when a bar appears. A million things rush through your head, like who to call, what to say, what to do, before it switches back to the "No wifi" signal. Your heart drops, and you turn off your phone, dissapointed. You sigh and curl up on the couch. One moment you find yourself wondering how this spring break will end, and the next you find your eyelids getting heavier and heavier, until you fall asleep.

 

...

...

 

You wake up to Skinnr's face above you. You squeak and swat at him, and he makes an injured noise when you slap him, and he leans backwards from the couch, holding his cheek. You swallow and glance around, then relax. Morning light pours in through the windows. Skinnr stares at the cushions on the couch.

 

You look to Skinnr, then immediately apologize for hitting him. He shrugs, rubbing his cheek. "You fell asleep on the couch. I was trying to wake you up. Sorry I scared you."

 

You tell him it's okay, and sit up, wiping your face. You feel dumb for having fell asleep there last night. You hope you didn't do anything gross while you were asleep.

 

"What time is it?"

 

"It's like, 7 am. No one's really up though. Antemh and Pendic are, and so's Kinpoh. But I think the rest of everyone is asleep." Skinnr goes and sits down in the armchair, pulling his legs up. He shrugs his shoulders up a little. "I found a page," he says.

 

Skinnr nods, though sheepishly. "I can't read it, though. I... don't really know if it's an *actual* page but.. I kind of wanted to see what you thought before I brought attention to it." He shrugs his shoulders up.

 

"C-C-Can I s-see it?"

 

Skinnr brightens up a little, then digs it out from his pocket. It's crumpled up, and he scoots over to you and presses it into your hands. You uncrumple it, and look at what it says. "T-The next m-m-man was one of h-humor as well. H-He found e-e-everything funny, and j-j-j-joked about it. A-As the tale go-goes, the sec-second is wo-worst than the f-f-first. Twice as m-much g-g-garbage spills from h-his mouth, his s-stomach t-t-turning it out." You frown at the passage, then audibly gasp.

 

You immediately bolt up, starting to run upstairs. You pass Pendic, who blinks in confusion as you rush past. You pant, about to have an asthma attack as you run. You slow down at Dadevu's door. You look in her room. She's laying in her bed, pillow over her face. Her fingers clench the pillow tightly. You swallow.

 

"D-D-Dadevu?" you quietly ask, slipping into the room. You swallow nervously as you step up onto the edge of the bottom bunk and pull yourself up. You try to move her hands, but they're hard to move. You pry at her hands to get the pillow off. You finally move them a little bit, and slip the pillow off. You gasp loudly, then fall from the bunks and onto your butt, starting to hyperventilate and cry. You hear footsteps near the doorway, and you turn to look who it is, tears falling down your face. It's Pendic.

 

"Aniese what's wrong?"

 

"D-D-D-D-Da-Dadevu's d-d-dead!!" you cry, a little louder than you mean to. You shake, and Pendic's eyes widen. She rushes to the bunk to peek up, then swallows and backs away, face almost pale.

 

You hug yourself, sobbing. "Sh-Sh-She's d-d-d-dead b-b-because w-we di-didn't p-p-pay m-m-more a-a-a-attent-t-tion!!!" Pendic's eyebrows pinch, and she kneels next to you and hugs you tightly.

 

You hear more footsteps by the door. You glance and see Conrad and Skinnr, standing there.

 

You cling to Pendic, sobbing as she starts to explain to Conrad and Skinnr what happened. Skinnr pitches in and says that you were reminded of Dadevu because he showed you a new page he found. You cry into Pendic's shoulder, clutching her shirt and shaking. She pets your hair. Conrad walks to the bunk, stands on his tip toes to see Dadevu, then falls back onto flat feet, frowning quietly. He looks to you and Pendic, then shoves his hands into his hoodie pocket.

 

"Damnit," he mumbles. "Let me see that page, please."

 

Skinnr gives him the page that you left downstairs on the couch. Conrad reads it, then swallows. He glances around, then hunches his shoulders a little, eyebrows pinching. "This is either me or Xemnes," he quietly says.

 

You hiccup and cry gently, calming down only slightly as your heart aches from all this death. You sniffle and hold onto Pendic tightly. She shifts and helps you stand, and you still hug her.

 

"Aniese, you should take a shower and get dressed, okay?" She pushes your hair behind your ear and wipes your face for you, looking up at you in concern.

 

Pendic kisses your chin, and hugs you. "Please go wash up Aniese."

 

You want to argue, but after Pendic pleads you, you agree to. You sniffle, wiping your eyes, then go back to your room to retrieve some clothes for the day. You go to the bathroom and lock it before stripping and getting in the shower.

 

....

 

When you come downstairs, hair wet in a ponytail, and fresh clothes on, you find that everyone is downstairs. A few people look at you when you inch into the room, but no one says anything. You sit down next to Pendic on the floor, pressing your shoulder against her's. She rests her head on your shoulder, sighing quietly. Conrad is telling everyone about the pages, and how everyone needs to be more aware of pages.

 

He points out the similarities between Aissil's and Dadevu's deaths and the stories. "She died because we weren't paying enough attention." He swallows, looking sad. "I don't really want anyone else dying. And... Whoever is killing, _stop_. Just, please. I don't know if it's any of you, but... please. Stop."

 

You pinch your eyebrows together sadly, and rest your head against Pendic's.

"Wh-What a-a-a-about th-the p-page S-S-Skinnr f-found?" You quietly ask, pulling your knees up to hug them.

 

Conrad looks to you, then shyly swallows. He pulls out the page, and reads it out loud to everyone. The other's glance around, mostly looking pointedly at Xemnes or Conrad himself. Skinnr hugs Xemnes's arm, eyebrows furrowing. Conrad swallows again. "I think it's me," he says quietly. "Or Xemnes."

 

Arsoni blinks widely, then starts shivering and crying. Conrad blinks at her, then kneels down and hugs her tightly, surrounding her with himself. She cries into his chest, fingers clutching his hoodie tightly. You find yourself a little angry. You won't let anyone else die, this has gone far enough. You bite your lip, leaning against Pendic. You look to her.

 

"Who do you think is killing everyone?" she mumbles to you, eyes wide.

 

"I-I-I d-don't kn-know," you mumble back, eyes equally wide. You shrug a little. "M-Maybe A-A-Antemh, h-he's k-kind o-o-of s-scary."

 

Pendic nods. She shrugs shyly. "I'm scared it might be him. Or Skinnr." She looks down, brows furrowed. "They both write, right? And... I dunno, I could imagine them."

 

You shrug and hug Pendic, nuzzling her. She hugs you back, too. You sigh, and she kisses your cheek, hugging you. "We took Dadevu to the garden while you were in the shower," she mumbles. "Aissil already... stinks." She lowers her head and presses it into your shoulder. You swallow and hug her tightly, petting her hair gently.

 

You do exactly nothing, and stay where you are. You rest your head against Pendic, sighing and closing your eyes. You want off this island. If you were dumb, you'd attempt swimming home. You jump when someone taps your shoulder. You turn and see Skinnr, and you feel Pendic's hands slightly curl in your shirt. She's scared.

 

"Wanna go on a walk?" Skinnr quietly asks.

 

You shake your head no, but pat the floor next to you. Skinnr sits down next to you. "I-I-I'm j-just t-t-tired a-and s-s-scared," you mumble, leaning against Pendic. You close your eyes momentarily, sighing.

 

You wish that you could go home, or you wish you hadn't let Pendic persuade you into coming to the house party thing. You swallow. You feel Pendic's hand slide up your back and gently rub it. You feel like sleeping more, but you open your eyes so that you don't fall asleep. Skinnr shifts where he's sitting, and pulls his knees to his chest.

 

You look to Conrad, hugging Pendic. "W-We n-n-need t-to p-p-protect you r-right?" you ask.

 

Conrad looks to you, then shrugs a little, a slight blush on his cheeks. "I guess I should stay with someone all day."

 

You nod, then glance around at people. Sarlla offers to keep Conrad by her, and Conrad smiles sheepishly, liking that idea. Arsoni wiggles a little in his arms and kisses his chin.

 

"I c-c-can st-stay with C-Conrad, t-too," you offer. Partially because you can't be too sure of anyone else's motives, and partially because you want to make sure no one else dies.

 

Conrad looks thankful, and he and Sarlla nod.

 

"So what should we do today?"

 

"M-Maybe w-w-we c-could go t-to the g-game room," you offer. You haven't been in there yet. "M-Maybe w-w-we could p-play p-pool to p-p-pass the t-time."

 

Conrad and Sarlla nod enthusiastically. Sarlla is hugging Aissil's boyfriend and petting his hair gently. He wiggles in her arms, quiet and sad looking. You look to Pendic.

 

"Do y-y-you want t-to p-play?" you ask her.

 

Pendic shakes her head. "Nah, I was gonna go down to the beach." She nuzzles you. "Maybe Acklin will come with me."

 

You nod, and kiss the top of her forehead. "O-Okay."

 

 

You stand up, and Pendic stands up with you. You bend over to rub Skinnr's shoulder. "I-I'm g-g-going to th-the g-game r-r-room," you tell him. "I-If you w-w-want to c-come you c-can."

 

Skinnr smiles a little and shrugs. "Me and Xemnes were gonna go on a walk. I wanna get outside and breathe a little."

 

You nod and kiss the top of his head, a slight blush on your cheeks, then hug Pendic. "B-Be s-safe," you tell her, brushing her hair out of her face. You kiss her forehead, and she nuzzles you.

 

"I'll try." She hugs you tightly before you two part, and you, Conrad, Sarlla, and the younger boy go to the game room.

 

"W-Would y-you l-l-like to p-play?" you ask the boy. He shakes his head, cheeks and eyes pink. He presses his face into Sarlla's side.

 

"C'mon Lobran," she says gently, pushing his hair out of his face. "It might take your mind off of things."

 

Conrad pauses where he is, face falling a little. He goes over and turns Lobran around, then hugs him tightly. He mumbles a few things to Lobran, whose shoulders shake and he quietly cries into Conrad's front. Conrad swallows, cheeks red, and eyes a little watery. You almost feel like you should leave.

 

Sarlla looks to you a little sadly, then she kneels down and kisses both of their cheeks, petting their hair. She mumbles a little bit to them.

 

You lift yourself up to sit on the edge of the pool table, swinging your legs slowly. You watch the ground, and you four sit in their for what seems maybe twenty minutes before the other three calm down a little. Conrad sniffles and kisses Lobran's cheek, petting his hair back, and Sarlla nuzzles them both, looking a little teary herself. After a few moments, they all get up, and Lobran mumbles that he'd like to play.

 

Conrad wipes at his eyes, then looks to you. "Oh, hey, we're not supposed to sit on the pool table, by the way," he mumbles quietly.

 

You immediately slide down, apologizing. Conrad tells you it's okay. You blush and look down. Sarlla goes and retrieves poolsticks for everyone, and hands them out. You quietly thank her, and she suddenly hugs you. You hesitate, then hug her back, swallowing quietly. She presses her chin on your shoulder, then sighs a little and lets go. She gives you a small smile before giving Conrad his stick.

 

"Do you guys know how to play pool?" Conrad asks.

 

You shake your head, blinking behind your glasses. Sarlla nods, and Lobran shakes his head as well. Conrad goes to the table, setting up the pool balls.

 

Lobran smiles a little, still teary. "Like playing with balls, Conrad?" Sarlla giggles and Conrad glares at him, though a tiny smile is on his face. You smile.

 

"Shut up," Conrad says affectionately, then stands back. "Okay, the game we're going to play is that you can either choose stripes or solids. It doesn't _reaaally_ work with four people, but we can team up. Me and Aniese will be stripes and you two will be solids."

 

Conrad leans over the end of the table, then shoots the cueball at the balls. Nothing goes in. He gestures for Sarlla to go, and she shoots at a solid ball.

 

"You can only shoot your own balls in." He stops and facepalms when Lobran and Sarlla giggle. Conrad sighs, smiling a little. "The eight ball is to go in last. If you get a ball in, you go again, and you keep going until you don't get anything in."

 

You shake your head, but Lobran nods. Conrad glances at him, and Lobran giggles. "Are you, are you good at..." he snickers. "Playing with balls?"

 

Sarlla leans against the table, giggling, shoulders shaking. You smile, and Lobran's giggling hard. Conrad rolls his eyes. "Yes, very good. Now shut up." He's blushing a little, but motions for you to shoot.

 

You go to the table, a little awkward with the stick. When you shoot, your stick slides from your hands and rams the side of the cue ball instead, but it ends up hitting a striped ball and shooting it across the table into a hole. You smile a little.

 

"Aniese is good with balls too," Lobran comments. You giggle shyly, then hit the cue ball again. This time it misses anything.

 

"Oh, hey guys I have to go to the bathroom," Conrad says. You and Sarlla look to him.

 

"I-I c-c-can t-take you," you say. He looks to you, slightly blushing, but nods. You both put up your sticks before walking out of the game room.

 

You're both quiet as you walk, then you stop at the bathroom door. Conrad smiles sheepishly at you, then goes in and locks the doorknob before you hear the toilet lid open. You sigh quietly and lean against the wall, waiting for him to get out. Your heart leaps a little when you hear Conrad quietly "What are you doing?"

 

You look at the bathroom door, and then knock a little. "C-Conrad y-y-you o-okay?"

 

He's quiet for a moment, then you hear him scream. You bang on the door, rattling the door knob. "C-Conrad!!!!"

 

Conrad screams again, and you hear noises from inside, and more rattling. Conrad screams, then it's suddenly cut off, and a dull thunk sounds from inside. You shake the door as hard as you can, screaming for Conrad. Sarlla runs into the room, and her eyes widen at you trying to get the door open. You're already crying, and when you look to her, tears are falling down your cheeks.

 

"H-Help." Your voice is quiet.

 

Sarlla swallows, before pushing you away from the door. She has no shoes on, but she kicks just below the doorknob of the door with her heel, and the door frame cracks, and she does it again and the door swings open, broken. You don't want to look inside, but Sarlla screams, and you hear Lobran running into the room.

 

Sarlla covers her mouth and backs out, tears starting to fall down her face. Lobran stops in his tracks, eyes wide when he sees Sarlla. He swallows and looks to you, lip trembling. You feel sick to your stomach, but you force yourself to peek inside the bathroom. You want to throw up, and you cover your mouth as well. Conrad had managed to get his pants up, but...

 

He's slightly slumped against the floor, a knife going through his stomach and pinning him to the wall. His head is slumping forward, blood running down his chin. You suddenly want to cry.

 

You hear faint giggling, and look when you see Acklin and Pendic coming in the front door, both dripping wet. They went to the beach, you remember. Pendic and Acklin both stop when they see you, Sarlla, and Lobran. Pendic's eyebrows pinch. "What happened?"

 

You shake your head and press yourself against the wall. You failed at protecting Conrad. But what else could you have done? Went in there with him? You start crying, shoulders shaking. Pendic and Acklin cautiously walk over, and when both of them look into the bathroom, Pendic swallows. "Oh my god."

 

She steps back a little. Acklin goes inside, checking Conrad for a pulse, just in case. She frowns when she can't find one, and her shoulders sag. Pendic goes to you and hugs you tightly, pressing her forehead into your shoulder. A few more people are coming down the stairs, you hear. You sniffle and see Xemnes walk in the front door, mouth open and about to ask something, then he blinks in confusion when he sees everyone.

 

Kinpoh, the orange haired girl and her blonde friend, and Arsoni stop when they walk into the living room and see everyone as well. Arsoni's eyes widen, and you know that she knows what happened.

 

You cry into Pendic's shoulder, hiding your face. You feel like Arsoni would hate you if she knew you let her only other brother die. You feel terrible, and you keep your face hidden in Pendic's shoulder. You hear her sniffle and she rubs your back slowly. You hear the others check the bathroom, and you hear Arsoni start to cry.

 

You see a glimpse of Sarlla taking Arsoni and hugging her to herself, both of them quietly crying. Lobran is sitting against a wall, tears falling down his face as he stares at the ground. This is terrible. You hear someone say they found another page. You hear that it was on the bathroom counter. You stifle a sob. You don't want to know what it says.

 

You hear someone read it, though. "The prince found a funny girl, who felt upbeat about everything. She happened to dance and sing, the joy springing out of her heart. The prince found her beautiful, before he looked closer and found a corrupted heart."

 

You sniffle and then pull away from Pendic, starting towards the front door. Pendic follows after you, skipping a little to catch up, then takes your hand. You walk out the door, still crying, and Pendic comes with you. You wipe your eyes beneath your glasses, walking. You keep walking until you're far from the house. You think you're on the other side of the island. You swallow and sniffle, breathing in, and then you sit down on a rock, and Pendic sits down on the ground, back against the rock. You jump when you hear twigs cracking. So does Pendic.

 

You stand up quickly, and Pendic follows your lead, taking your hand in hers and squeezing it tightly. You look to where the noise was, and then you squeak when you see Skinnr stumble out of some trees and trip over a bush. He falls to his face in the dirt, and then groans into the ground. You swallow.

 

"Sk-Skinnr?" you gently call out. Skinnr looks up, looking around blindly.

 

"Aniese?? You're out here???" He wiggles a little, getting his feet untangled from the bush, but he falils. "Help please."

 

Pendic is holding your hand tightly, and you look to her. She shakes her head a little, eyebrows pinched as she bites her lip.

 

You bite your lip, then let go of Pendic's hand to go and help Skinnr. Pendic hugs herself, staying near the rock. You reach and tug Skinnr from the bush, and he wiggles, then sits up. You half expect him to attack you or something. Instead, he rubs his head.

 

"Thank you." He pushes himself up and stands, then shifts, and stands there uselessly.

 

"Wh-Why a-a-are you o-out here a-all b-by y-y-yourself?" you ask Skinnr.

 

"Xemnes and I were on a walk, but we got seperated I guess. I didn't notice until I slammed into a tree and I was like 'Dude why didn't you tell me there was a tree?' and then realized he wasn't with me." Skinnr frowns sadly.

 

You lean forward and hug Skinnr. He is essentially surprised at the hug, you feel it, but then he gently hugs you back. "I-I-I s-saw X-Xemnes a-at the h-house. H-He c-came i-in, h-he looked w-worried." Your heart sinks a little.

 

You breathe in a little, then pat Skinnr's back. "Sk-Skinnr... C-Conrad's d-d-d... s-something b-b-bad ha-happened to him." Skinnr blinks, then pulls away, staring towards your face.

 

"What??"

 

"H-He's.. He g-got k-k-killed." You sniffle a little, heart starting to pound and tears welling up. "I-It's m-m-my f-fault I w-walked him t-to th-the b-bathroom a-and som-somehow s-someone got i-in and k-killed him."

 

Skinnr's face saddens. "How'd they get in..?"

 

You shrug sadly, a tear dripping down your cheek. Skinnr pouts his lower lip out, eyebrows pinched. His shoulders sag. "I want off this island."

 

You sniffle and nod in agreement. You sniffle and tip your glasses up to wipe at your eyes, before sitting down on the ground. You pull your knees up to your chest. Pendic cautiously scoots over the sit next to you, and leans against you quietly. She kisses your cheek. "I'm gonna go back to the house, I should probably help out." She nuzzles your shoulder a little and you hug her back, then let go. She kisses your face one more time before getting up and starting to walk back.

 

You sadly look to Skinnr, who shifted and sat down as well. "Is Xemnes okay?"

 

You shrug, then remember Skinnr can't see that well. "I-I-I d-don't know. H-He w-was f-f-fine wh-when I s-saw him." You rest your cheek on your knees, and Skinnr sighs quietly.

 

You hear him sniffle a little, and glance at him. "I wish I hadn't come here in the first place," he mumbles. "I didn't even want to go, Xemnes talked me into it."

 

You nod and sniffle. "S-Same," you tell him quietly. "P-P-Pendic t-talked me i-i-into th-this. I wi-wi-wish I'd s-stayed home." You rest your face against your knees.

 

"Maybe we should just stay in the woods until Thursday. We can't get killed if no one knows where we are."

 

"Y-Yeah," you say quietly. "E-Everyone m-m-might th-think w-we're the k-killers. A-And th-they'd d-die."

 

"Maybe we ~are~ the killers," Skinnr teases, wiggling his fingers in a spooky fashion. He then sighs and slumps against the ground. "I want my mom."

 

You nod, understanding the feeling. "I-I l-l-live with m-my D-Da. M-My m-m-mom's g-gone."

 

Skinnr stares at the ground and nods. He moves his fingers through the sandy dirt.

 

"D-Do you w-w-want to go fo-for a w-walk?" you quietly ask. Skinnr shrugs, then nods.

 

"Yeah. We're gonna go back to the house soon, though, right?"

 

"I-If you w-want," you say, getting up. You take Skinnr's hand and help him up. He holds onto your hand a moment longer than necessary, then lets go.

 

"Where are we gonna walk?"

 

"Wh-Wherever o-our f-feet t-t-take us." You take Skinnr's hand in yours so that he doesn't get lost from you. You start walking, and he walks along with you.

 

You two chat for a while, staying out for a long time. You stay out until the sky begins to redden and the sun starts to sink. You have no idea what time it is, your phone already died a little bit ago. You'll have to charge it when you get home.

 

When you enter the house, pullling Skinnr along, you yawn a little. You're tired. You guide Skinnr into the living room, then blink when almost everyone is in there. Sarlla is on the couch holding Arsoni and Lobran. Pendic is on the other side of the couch, a worried and sad look on her face. Her eyes are pink from crying. Xemnes is curled up in the arm chair, looking like he was crying as well. You look around confused. The orange haired girl and her blonde friend are sitting by the wall, Antemh is sitting in a corner, Acklin by him.

 

"Aniese!" Pendic cries in relief, seeing you. Xemnes looks over to you two and cries out in relief as well, getting up and running to Skinnr.

 

"Oh my god dude I thought you got killed out in those woods," he cries, hugging Skinnr to himself tightly. Skinnr places his hands on Xemnes's chest, blinking. Pendic rushes to you and hugs you tightly, swallowing.

 

She looks up to you, eyebrows pinched. "Kinpoh got killed."

 

Your eyebrows pinch. You'd known Kinpoh a little. "H-How?" you quietly ask.

 

Pendic sniffles and rubs her eyes. She's still on the verge of crying, you realize. "Arsoni found Kinpoh in the game room. Someone shoved a pool stick through her chest."

 

You swallow. That's... you don't know the word for it. Disgusting? Terrible? You can only imagine how painful that would be. You feel your eyes water.

 

You hug Pendic tightly, swallowing. You pet her hair, and she starts to quietly cry into your shoulder. You press your nose into her hair.

You hear Skinnr quietly ask Xemnes if they found another page.

 

"Yeah dude," Xemnes says quietly.

 

You hesitate, then look to Xemnes. "Wha-What d-did th-the p-p-page s-s-say?" you quietly ask.

 

Xemnes looks to you, then presses his nose into Skinnr's hair. "You'll have to get the page from Brusli, dude."

 

You glance around, not knowing who that is. "She's the chick with the orange hair," Xemnes elaborates, when he sees your confused look. You nod.

 

You kiss Pendic's forehead and gently pet her hair, then let go of her and take her hand. She wipes at her face as you walk to Brusli. You shyly shift, then blink at her. "U-Um.. X-Xemnes s-said you h-h-have th-the pa-page can, I-I s-see it?"

 

Brusli looks up at you, narrowing her eyes. She stares at you for a moment before sighing and pulling the page out of her pocket and holding it up for you.

 

You unfold the page and start reading it. It reads, "The prince found a not so upbeat girl, whom he immediately suspected to be a witch. She glanced at people suspiciously, seemingly hiding something, but not seeming all there. At any moment, he could swear she might disappear. She seemed like a calm storm."

 

You swallow, eyebrows pinching. You have no idea who this is about.

 

You look to Brusli. "Wh-Who's the p-paper a-a-a-about?" you ask.

 

Brusli shrugs, and reaches for the paper. You let her have it, and watch as she folds it and puts it in her pocket. "Sarlla thought it was about me. Antemh thought it was about Acklin. We'll see, I guess."

 

You frown, then quietly apologize to Brusli. She shrugs and leans her head against her friend. You glance at Pendic as she starts tugging you towards the couch. She gets you to sit down, and she snuggles into your side. She sighs, hugging you.

 

"D-D-Did y-you g-g-guys t-take K-Kinpoh t-to the g-garden?" you quietly ask.

 

Pendic nods and sniffles, nuzzling you. "I don't want anyone else dying," she mumbles sadly.

 

You hug Pendic tightly, and mumble "Same". You squeeze your eyes closed, and kiss her forehead. She snuggles into you, hugging you tightly. You sigh, and for the second time for your stay, you fall asleep on the couch.

 

...

...

 

When you wake up, it's on your own terms this time. You yawn and sit up, and find that someone covered you with a blanket. It looks early in the morning. It's still slightly dark out, because the sky is that dull blue color in the mornings. You feel tired out, and your glasses are pressed against the bridge of your nose painfully. You haven't slept in your bed at all yet. You wonder how you haven't been killed in your sleep yet. You listen. There's two quiet voices in the game room.

 

You slide off the couch and stand up, wrapping the blanket around your shoulders. You sniffle. You feel a little sick, honestly. You rub at your eyes underneath your glasses, and then head to the game room. You peek in and see Acklin and Antemh quietly talking to each other, playing pool.

 

"H-Hey," you say quietly, leaning on the door frame.

 

Acklin and Antemh both look to you. Antemh blinks at you, then looks back to the game. Acklin gives you a tired look and smiles a little, giving you a small wave before focussing on pool. Acklin looks exceptionally tired.

 

"D-D-Did an-anyone d-die wh-while I-I-I w-was a-asleep?" you quietly ask.

 

"No," Antemh answers.

 

"Thankfully," Acklin adds.

 

You nod quietly.

 

You focus on Acklin. "Ha-Have you s-slept at a-all?" you ask her.

 

She shakes her head, raising her arm to her mouth to stifle a yawn. "No."

 

"Wh-Why?"

 

"Because I don't want more people dying. If someone's awake, there's a chance of catching the killer."

 

You don't point out that most of the kills happened during the day.

 

You mumble a quiet "Later" to Acklin and Antemh, and shuffle to the kitchen. You hear clinking in there, and peek around the corner to see Skinnr inside. "Sk-Skinnr?"

 

Skinnr jumps, trying not to drop an egg. He looks around blindly. He sighs. "Hi Aniese."

 

"N-Need some h-h-help?" you ask, still tugging the blanket around your shoudlers.

 

Skinnr nods. "I was trying to make omlettes for everyone," he mumbles. "I dunno if they'll eat them though, a lot of them think I'm the killer." His eyebrows furrow. "You don't think I'm the killer, do you?"

 

You shake your head, shuffling into the kitchen. "N-No, I d-d-don't." You rub his shoulder a little. He hugs your arm before letting go.

 

You notice a bowl of egg insides. Skinnr has done a good job of not getting egg shell in it. "H-How many m-m-more e-eggs do y-you ne-need?" you ask.

 

"Um... how many are in the bowl?"

 

"Looks l-l-like t-ten."

 

"I don't need any more, then." Skinnr cracks the last egg into the bowl, then discards the shell in the sink. He goes and washes his hands, then feels around for the soap. He soaps his hands up and washes them, then dries them on his shirt.

 

"D-D-Do y-you n-n-need anything? L-Like i-ingredients?"

 

"Uhhh tomatoes and maybe sausage? I dunno wait, no tomatos and cheese?" Skinnr holds onto the counter.

 

"Okay." You smile at him, then go to the fridge and get the ingredients. "You c-c-can put th-the ch-cheese in a-and I'll c-cut the t-t-tomatoes."

 

"Good call."

 

You hand Skinnr the bag of cheese, and he pulls it open and starts sprinkling cheese inside. You watch his hand motions and it looks like he's trying to create a cheesy smiley face. Which doesn't happen. You smile a little, then take the tomatoes to the cutting board. You go through the drawers, then finally find a knife drawer and go to cut up the tomatoes. You glance at Skinnr.

 

"Hey, Aniese, is this enough cheese?"

 

You look over. Even though there isn't a smiley face, you can tell he was trying to make one. "Wh-What's w-w-with th-the sm-smiley f-f-f-face?"

 

Skinnr smiles happily, apparently happy that he managed to make one. "I thought it'd look cute."

 

You smile. "It d-does. Y-Yeah, th-th-that's enough cheese."

 

You finish up the tomatoes and dump the chunks into the mix. You take a spoon and stir it all up, before searching the kitchen for a pan.

 

Skinnr stays where he is. He wiggles a little. "Thanks for being my friend."

 

You blink, glancing at him. "W-We're f-f-friends?" you ask, blinking.

 

Skinnr opens his mouth, then his face falls a little and he shrugs. "I uh, sorry I just assumed."

 

"Oh, s-s-s-sorry I-I w-w-was j-just s-suprised y-you th-thought of m-me a-a-as y-your f-f-friend. W-We c-can b-be f-f-friends." You walk to the stove and put the pan on, then turn it on.

 

Skinnr smiles a little. "So we're friends?"

 

You smile. "Y-Yeah."

 

Skinnr smiles widely before doing that "Yessss" fist thing where you pull it to your chest. You giggle and take the omlette mix bowl, pouring everything into the pan. The mix spreads out so that it takes up the entire bowl. You purse your lips. That's a lot of omlette.

 

It's not long before everything's done. You haven't heard anyone wake up, but you cut the omlette into 11 pieces, one for each person. You get out some paper plates.

 

You tell Skinnr to put a piece on each plate, and he nods, saluting you. You giggle and call him silly before leaving the room. You walk to the game room, but only find Antemh in there. He's sitting on the side of the pool table, sticks on the table, and he's playing a game on his phone.

 

"Wh-where's A-Acklin?" you ask, glancing around. "A-Also w-we're n-n-not su-supposed to s-sit on th-th-there."

 

Antemh looks up at you, then shrugs and slides off. "I dunno. I went to the bathroom in the middle of our game and I came back and she was gone." He frowns a little. "Have you seen her? It's been almost twenty minutes."

 

You shake your head, getting a bad feeling in your gut. Your eyebrows pinch. You're a little scared of Antemh. He was, after all, the last one to have probably seen her. Everyone else is asleep. You swallow. "Wh-What i-i-if sh-she's d-dead?"

 

Antemh's eyes widen a little. His eyebrows pinch like yours did. "She can't be. There's no way she'd, you know, be dead?"

 

You frown. "Th-The p-page, th-though..."

 

You briefly tell Antemh to check the rooms downstairs as you run for the stairs. You skip up the stairs, having left your blanket with Antemh. You don't personally know which room is Acklin's, so you look inside them all. You find Arsoni in her room, awake and on the bottom bunk, staring at the floor. Your heart squeezes sadly for her, but you push it aside.

 

"A-Arsoni?" you ask quietly, trying not to scare her.

 

She looks up slowly at you, eyes sad and wet. "H-Have y-y-you s-seen A-Acklin?" you almost whisper. She shakes her head, then looks back down. You feel your heart squeeze, and you gently apologize to her before going to the other rooms. You don't find anyone else awake. You check in your room, and Pendic's asleep in your bed. You pause, then go into your room. She has a small dinosaur that you saw in her bag when you unpacked it in her arms. Your heart squeezes, and you take off your jacket, then lay it over her. She wiggles a little, making a tiny sleeping noise before sighing and settling back down. You swallow, then leave the room and rush downstairs.

 

Antemh is waiting at the bottom of the stairs for you when you come back down. "Did you find her?"

 

You shake your head. "D-D-Did y-y-you?"

 

Antemh shakes his head, then bites his lip. He's visibly worried. "Should we check outside? The garden? The beach? She swims a lot, maybe she went for a swim?"

 

You run past Antemh to the kitchen. "Sk-Skinnr A-A-Acklin's missing."

 

Skinnr jumps, putting the last omlette on a plate. He turns the doorway. "Where is she?"

 

"I d-d-don't kn-know. M-Me and An-Antemh w-were ab-about to l-l-look for h-her." You pinch your eyebrows together. You hear Antemh come behind you.

 

You tell Skinnr you'll be back, and you start quickly for the door. Antemh follows you, stony faced. You feel just a bit creeped out. You and him hurry down the path to the beach. Had it been a normal spring break vacation, you'd have maybe enjoyed coming to the beach. You stop when you see a body lying on the sand, waves washing over them.

 

It's Acklin. She's in her purple swimming suit, and she's lying face up.

 

"No..." Antemh quietly says. You look to him uneasily.

 

You hesitate before going down to the beach, walking alongside Antemh. He looks like he's trying to not run down. He hesitates, then kneels down beside her. He's still in his pajama pants, and they get sandy and wet. He doesn't look like he cares. His eyebrows pinch together, and he stares at Pendic. His lip trembles, then he swallows.

 

"Acklin?" he quietly asks. He shakes her a little. "Acklin." Your heart squeezes.

 

You blink when you glance around and see a small sheet of paper caught on a rock. It wiggles in the wind.

 

You glance at Antemh, eyebrows pinched, then you scoot over to the paper. You pick it up and scan it, then shove it into your jeans pockets. You find yourself glad you chose jeans intead of a skirt yesterday morning. You'll show everyone the paper later. You swallow.

 

Antemh's shoulders shake a little, then he groans quietly, tears starting to fall down his face. He swears quietly, wiping his face, then forces himself up. "What should we do with her?"

 

"L-Let's t-t-take h-her b-b-body t-to th-the h-house," you say quietly.

 

Antemh hesitates, then nods. He bends and picks up her body. It's limp. She couldn't have died too long. Your lip trembles, and he holds her bridal style. You look down, then start walking back to the house. You hear Antemh follow.

 

When you get inside, you have Antemh wait outside. You don't want anyone being surprised by a dead body. You reach the living room, and Skinnr is sitting in there with Sarlla, Lobran, and Arsoni. Sarlla looks to you. "Acklin's dead?"

 

You nod, swallowing. "Ant-Antemh h-has h-her, r-right n-now. I t-t-told h-him n-not to b-bring h-her i-in I-I um.. d-didn't w-want to s-startle an-anyone."

 

Sarlla nods. You glance at Arsoni and Lobran. Arsoni looks like she's been crying. She can't be older than 7th grade. You feel terrible.

 

"Are we gonna take her to the garden now, or wait until everyone wakes up?"

 

"W-We sh-should t-t-take her n-now," you say gently. Sarlla nods.

 

"I'll go get some sheets." You lean against the wall sadly, and listen as Sarlla climbs upstairs. A few minutes later, she comes down with a blanket. You look to her, then you both start towards the front door.

 

You come out first, Sarlla behind you. You all go into the grass, and Antemh lays Acklin down so that you three can wrap her in the blanket. You feel like crying, so that's what you do. You cry silently, tears falling down your face. Antemh picks Acklin up by himself, still carrying her bridal style. You and Sarlla look to each other.

 

You blink at Sarlla for a moment, then start to follow Antemh, who started walking without you two. Sarlla pauses, then follows you. All three of you are quiet as you walk. You reach the garden, and watch as Antemh gently lays her down on the ground. You pick a flower and place it on Acklin, so does Sarlla. You sniffle a little, wiping at your eyes. Five people are dead already. You remember the page in your pocket. You'll show Sarlla and Antemh on the way back. You have four or five days until the ferry shows. You sniffle quietly.

 

You and Sarlla start walking, but you see Antemh sit down next to Acklin, sadly looking at her form. You start to say something, but then think better of it. Sarlla nods towards the path, and you both silently agree to let Antemh have his time with Acklin.

 

You decide to wait until you get to the house to show Sarlla the page. You wonder if anyone else is awake. You and Sarlla don't speak to each other as you walk back to the house. Sarlla's the first one inside, and you follow. When you two reach the living room, you find that most everyone is awake. You hope Skinnr didn't go and wake everyone up.

 

You swallow, then sit down on the floor beside Pendic. You're not good at adressing people. Realizing you left her to tell everyone, Sarlla sighs. "Me, Aniese, and Antemh took Acklin to the garden," she says quietly. Arsoni is sniffling and laying her head down in Lobran's lap.

 

"I don't know the details of the death, only Aniese and Antemh do." She glances at you.

 

"U-Um, o-okay." You tell everyone about you and Skinnr making omlettes, and then you going to ask Acklin and Antemh if they wanted any, since they were the only two awake. You describe you and Antemh searching for her before finding her on the beach. Then you swallow and hand Sarlla the page sadly.

 

Sarlla unfolds it, then starts reading. "The prince uneasily walked through town, wary of the people inside. He saw one woman, flippant and uncaring of others. He saw her disrespectful attitude towards other's, and it angered him so. The woman might as well be shooting others through the heart with her words." She frowns and looks to Brusli, before her face softens.

 

You swallow. "I-I-Is it d-definitely a-about B-Brusli?" you quietly ask. Sarlla bites her lip.

 

"Probably."

 

Brusli looks a little offended at first, but keeps her eyes down and leans against Growen. Growen looks worried, and hugs her tightly.

 

You offer to stay with Brusli. She glances at you, then shrugs. "I don't really want anyone trying to watch over me," she says. "If I die it'll be my own fault."

 

You feel your heart sink a little, understanding the implications that she didn't want anyone to feel at fault. You nod, hugging Pendic. Sarlla frowns at Brusli, and starts talking to her. Brusli simply shrugs and leans against her blonde friend.

 

"Growen'll be with me," she tells Sarlla. Growen nods, gently hugging Brusli.

 

Pendic hugs you. She looks to you. "Where's Antemh?" she mumbles.

 

"H-He's i-in th-th-the g-g-garden w-with A-Acklin," you tell her quietly. She nods.

 

"I'm gonna go see him. I need to stretch my legs or something." She stands up, earning a few glances, then steps around you and starts out the door.

 

After Pendic leaves, everyone else decides to start getting up and going their own ways. You get up, then head upstairs. You decide to take a shower. You get some different clothes for today, then go into the bathroom.

 

...

 

When you come downstairs, only about ten minutes later, you head to the kitchen. You get a glass of water, and then a few more, because you've forgotten to drink at all yet. You also get an omlette and quickly eat it. It's cold, but it's still food. You trash your paper plate and put your fork in the dishwasher.

 

You decide to explore around outside. You've only seen the front of the house, and the outside is big enough to have cool secrets. You leave out the front door, and start walking around the side. You "ohhh" at a swimming pool when you see it. It's really big, the blue water shiny. There's a big slide and a diving board. You scoot around to the back of the park, and also find a park. You see Brusli and Growen on the swings, swinging and talking to each other. You continue walking. You walk all the way back around to the front, and blink when you see Pendic running from the woods.

 

When Pendic runs up to you, panting, you tip your head and ask her why she's running. She swallows and pants, then looks up to you. "Antemh wasn't in the garden."

 

You blink. "Why's th-that a b-b-b-bad thing?"

 

Pendic gasps for breath, and swallows. "There's stab wounds all over the bodies."

 

You blink, staring at Pendic. "Wh-What?!"

 

Pendic's shoulders shake a little. "I got there and there was blood all over the sheets and I got closer and saw a bunch of holes in the sheets! I kinda, I kinda looked for Antemh and I called for him and then I got scared and.." She looks away, looking very ashamed. "I just ran instead of trying to clean off the bodies or anything."

 

You frown, then ask your friend if she'll take you to the garden. She nods and takes your hand, still breathing hard. She leads you down the path, and you don't run. When you two walk through the forest, she presses her shoulder against yours lightly, looking around a little fearfully. You wrap your arm around her shoulders, and she relaxes just a tiny bit. When you two reach the garden, you gasp. She wasn't lying.

 

Pendic lets go of your hand and stays away from the bodies as you move closer. You inspect the bodies, then gasp quietly. "P-P-Pendic, th-these a-aren't st-stab wo-wounds," you mumble. "Th-They're b-b-bullet wo-wounds." You frown. You suppose the house is too far from the garden to hear a gunshot.

 

Pendic's face pales, and she looks close to tears. "Do you think Antemh did that?" she mumbles.

 

"I d-d-don't kn-know," you say quietly. You stand up from your kneeling position, and look to Pendic.

 

She's hugging herself, face pale and close to tears. You walk to her and hug her gently. "I-I-I d-don't w-w-want to ac-accuse an-anyone," you say quietly.

 

Pendic whimpers into your shoulder, clutching your jacket tightly. "I want to go home," she whispers.

 

You tell her you want to, too. You walk Pendic back to the house, and she clings to you, sniffling quietly. You kiss her cheek and want to tell her it's okay, but you know it's not. You hug her to your side as you walk. When you two reach the house, you both jolt when you hear a gunshot from the back of the house. You hear a cry. "Brusli!!"

 

 

You run towards the gunshot. Pendic squeaks, terrified. She doesn't follow you. You run around the back of the house, and find Growen and Arsoni kneeled by Brusli, who's laying on the ground. A red patch is spreading on her chest, and her eyes are shut. Your heart beats quickly.

 

You immediately kneel down by Brusli, hesitating before lifting up her shirt. She's very lightly breathing. You want to help her. You push her shirt all the way up to her chin, and find a bullet hole in her chest. You involuntarily make a small whimpery noise. There's no way to save her if it went through her heart.

 

You look up to Growen and Arsoni. Growen is crying, and Arsoni just stares at Brusli blankly. "Wh-What h-h-happened?" you ask.

 

"We were going inside! And then as soon as Brusli opened the back door there was a gunshot from above and Brusli fell down." She bites her lip, rubbing at her eyes. She leans over Brusli, petting her cheek and crying.

 

You stay with Growen and Brusli. You feel useless, unable to help Brusli. Growen cries and quietly talks to Brusli, telling her how much she loves her and how much of a good friend Brusli had been to her. Your heart squeezes. You look to Arsoni. She looks on emptily. You feel tears fall down your face.

 

Then, Brusli's chest quits rising and falling, and Growen cries even more over Brusli. You glance around and see a few people have gathered in the back with you and Growen and Brusli. You wipe at your eyes.

 

You stand up, then go in through the back door. A fun doesn't fire this time. You see Pendic curled up on the couch, quietly crying. Skinnr sits next to her, not saying anything. You pass them and go to the stairs, and climb up. You check each room, seeing which one looks over the playground. You feel your heart drop when you see a fun laying on the dresser in Antemh's room. A page is next to it.

 

You inch into the room, looking around. Your heart drops even further when you pick up the page. You sniffle, then pocket the page. You stare at the gun. So it was really Antemh. Pendic was right to be scared. You wipe your eyes, not wanting to believe it was anyone.

 

The paper isn't crumpled this time, so there's no need to uncrumple it. You read it. It reads: "One woman seemed very caring, and ot touched the prince's heart. He saw her talking gently to a merchant, then when someone bumped her shoulder, he saw the ugly side of her jump out and scream. The prince frowned. The woman was hanging herself up to dry."

 

You swallow. You linger in the room, still feeling disbelief. You reread the paper, then glance around Antemh's room. You hear someone come up the stairs. You walk to the doorframe and peek out. Sarlla is coming up.

 

"S-Sarlla," you say quietly. "I-I n-n-need to t-talk to y-you."

 

You explain everything from the time you and Pendic reached the garden to right now. Sarlla tears up at the fact there is gunshot wounds in all her friend's bodies. You apologize when you're finished.

 

"I'll kill that bastard," she mumbles. You wipe your eyes, and hand her the page. She reads it, then wipes at her eyes and starts down the stairs.

 

You follow Sarlla downstairs. Almost everyone is in the living room. Growen, Lobran, and Skinnr aren't. And of course Antemh isn't. You don't see Brusli outside of the back doors, so you suspect they took her to the garden. You sniffle and sit down next to Pendic. She looks to you worriedly. Her eyes are red, and so are her cheeks. You lean into her shoulder, starting to cry again.

 

Sarlla explains to everyone what you told her. No one seems very surprised the killer is Antemh. She tells everyone to speak up if they see him.

 

A while later, Skinnr, Growen, and Lobran return from their trek to the garden. Sarlla asks them if they saw Antemh on their way, and they all shake their heads. You sniffle and hug Pendic tightly, petting her hair.

 

It is now around 10 pm. Everyone is quiet, most have gone to bed. You kiss Pendic's forehead, and take her hand. You both go upstairs. For the first time in a few days, you actually change into pajamas. You climb into your bottom bunk. It's not long before you fall asleep sadly.

 

...

...

 

 

You wake up, and the amount of sunlight pouring into the window in your room tells you that it's late in the morning. You yawn, and sit up. You go ahead and change into clothes for the day, skipping a shower, before checking to see if Pendic's in her bunk. She's not.

 

You walk down the hall. It's eerily quiet. You walk downstairs, and to the living room. Everyone is in there. Most everyone. Four or five people are missing. You shyly sit down to Pendic. "What happened?"

 

Pendic looks to you sadly. "Growen died."

 

You stare at Pendic, eyes wide. You can't make yourself talk. Pendic looks down sadly. "She was hanged," she mumbles. "She was hanging from the ceiling fan. Arsoni found her."

 

Your heart squeezes harshly for the girl. You know that she's going to face a lot of problems if.. no, when she goes back home. You start to quietly cry, looking to the floor. You hate Antemh. You want to hurt him.

 

You look up when the ones who took Growen come back. Lobran and Sarlla linger in the door frame of the living room before leaving. You hear the door open and shut again. You feel horrible.

 

Everyone else starts getting up, quietly chatting to the others. You stand up, and Pendic stands with you. "L-Let's on a w-w-walk," you mumble. Pendic swallows, but nods. You two leave the house, and start walking.

 

"D-D-Did y-you g-guys f-f-find a-another p-p-page?" you ask her.

 

Pendic nods. "Yeah. It was talking about Lobran."

 

Your heart squeezes. "I-Is th-th-that wh-why S-Sarlla l-left w-with him?" Pendic nods. You look down.

 

"I w-w-wanna g-go find S-Skinnr," you tell Pendic. Pendic leans up and kisses your cheek.

 

"I'm gonna go back to the house. I kind of want to just stay in bed right now."

 

"Okay." You hug her.

 

You walk down the path to the beach. You see no one there. You sigh, then glance around. You begin to slowly walk down the path to the garden. You are lost in thought, when suddenly a gunshot sounds from near the forest.

 

You squeak and start running the opposite direction, towards the house. Your heart beats quickly. As you run inside the door, you run into Skinnr. "H-H-Have you s-seen P-Pendic? L-L-Lobran?!"

 

Skinnr stares at you, then his eyebrows pinch. "Sarlla and Lo are in the forest somewhere. I dunno about Pendic."

 

You swallow, then run from the door. You keep running to the forest with the garden, though you can feel an asthma attack coming on. You wheeze and pull your inhaler out, sucking at it before putting it away. You only slow down when you see Sarlla sobbing over Lobran.

 

You start inching nearer. You step on a twig accidentally, and Sarlla's head looks up immediately. She looks at you dangerously, before her shoulders sag and she rubs at her face, still crying. You walk to her, and kneel down. Your stomach turns at the sight of Lobran. Part of his skull is blown up from the gunshot you heard earlier.

 

You two sit there for a long while, what feels like maybe an hour or two. Sarlla sobs until she can't anymore. When she sniffles and hiccup, finally quiet, you look to her.

 

You tell Sarlla that you two should carry Lobran to the house. She agrees, but refuses to let you carry him. She picks him up and holds him like you would hold a baby. She pets his hair, and begins to quietly cry again as you both start walking. You say nothing.

 

You look up. It feels like late noon. The sun is high in the sky. When you two reach the house, you see a paper left on the porch. You pick up the paper, then politely ask Sarlla to remain on the porch while you retrieve a blanket. You run into Pendic, who was coming downstairs. She looks at you in question. You sadly tell her what happened. Her face falls.

 

When Pendic offers to help, you tell her to go wait with Sarlla. You go up the rest of the stairs, then pause and pull out the paper and read it.

 

It reads: "A sweet woman, the prince noticed, pranced in his way. She apologized, then smiled shyly at him, and he at her. He opened his mouth to talk to her, but then saw how broken she was."

 

Your heart skips a beat. Pendic? Arsoni? You bite your lip and pocket the paper. You'll worry about it later. You go into Sarlla's and Lobran's room and retrieve Lobran's bed sheet. You leave the room and go downstairs, then out the door.

 

Once you three have wrapped Lobran, Sarlla insists taking Lobran alone. "If I die I don't care," she mumbles.

 

You tell Sarlla you're coming anyways, and she looks at you angrily before shrugging quietly. She doesn't let you or Pendic touch Lobran. Pendic stays behind, while you go.

 

It's almost sundown when you and Sarlla reach the garden. You feel a little afraid, but push it away as you help place flowers on Lobran. You hear Sarlla sniffling, but you don't comment.

 

After you're both done, you have trouble getting Sarlla to come back home. You and her argue, and you finally get her to come. She's crying, but you hold her hand and tug her to the house.

 

It's nightfall, and you see Skinnr and Pendic sadly holding a white-blanketed body as they stand on the porch. You let go of Sarlla's hand and rush to them. "What.. Wh-Who...?"

 

Pendic is crying quietly. "She got pushed down the stairs," she mumbles to you. "I saw Antemh running out of the house, and then saw Arsoni at the bottom of the stairs."

 

Your heart sinks further. Sarlla pushes past all three of you, going inside. She looks empty. You offer to help them take Arsoni to the garden, and quietly cry. All three of you carry her, and when you get there, you all agree to lay her between Conrad and Aissil. You feel like your heart breaks. You cry harder, and Pendic gently rubs your back. You sniffle and hiccup until you feel better enough to pick flowers for Arsoni.

 

All of you lay flowers on her dead body. Even though you aren't very religious, all three of you still say a prayer for her. She was only in 7th grade. You start crying again.

 

By the time you get back to the house, it is midnight. Skinnr and Pendic excuse themselves for bed, but you head to the living room. Xemnes is curled up in the armchair, asleep. You're pretty sure Sarlla is upstairs. You sigh sadly. You eventually fall asleep.

 

...

...

 

When you wake up, it is late in the morning, again. You wake up feeling stiff. Xemnes is gone from the armchair. The house feels empty. You sit up, and remember everything. You have the urge to cry. You get up and stretch, and then you tiredly head towards the stairs. It feels like 10 am. You go to your room and check your phone, which is charging. You suddenly remember everyone's belongings. You realize that none of their stuff will ever be used by their owners again. Everyone's families will be torn because of the loss of their children. You suddenly start sobbing, leaning against the wall. You cry for a good bit.

 

After you get yourself under control, you grab some clothes and head to the shower.

 

...

 

You're still a little weepy, but you head downstairs to the kitchen. You eat some food, drink some orange juice, and then head out of the house. You leave the house, and follow the path down to the beach. You're wearing a short skirt, it only comes up to your knees. You also have your hair in a pony tail and you have a rock band t-shirt. For a moment , as you stand there and watch the waves, you feel pretty, or even cute. You sigh gently, and walk along the beach. You tip your head when you see Pendic and Xemnes attempting to climb over some rocks. Skinnr stands behind them. You wouldn't find it as odd if they didn't look panicked.

 

You rush over, and Skinnr looks your direction. You rub his shoulder befor3 asking what happened. His eyebrows furrow. "Sarlla fell into the rocks," he says quietly. "Or, y'know, someone pushed her..."

 

You glance around, and see the telltale paper caught on a rock. You leave Skinnr and go retrieve the paper. It's got a few droplets of water on it. You're surprised when you find it's actually not one, but two papers. You unfold the papers and read them in order according to the numbers on them.

 

"A woman, promisiscious in nature, but terrified of committment. The prince watched as she made her way from person to person, batting her lashes and smiling. He looked away. If she was caught by the law, she would be stoned to death."

 

"

A man, who helps the good but sees no evil. He makes jokes in light of situations, but is truly terrified of them. The prince didn't like him, but still thought of him as a cool character."

 

Your heart drops because you know, even though you don't know either very well, that these are Sarlla and Xemnes, respectively. You feel your heart drop even further when you connect Skinnr telling you Sarlla fell - or was pushed - off the cliff. You rush to the edge, holding the papers in your hand. Your heart clenches when you see Sarlla's broken body amongst the rocks. Pendic reaches her body first, and Xemnes takes a moment to reach her. They both very carefully pick Sarlla up, and start making their way back over the rocks. You notice all the cuts they have on their legs and arms. Soon, they reach the shore, holding Sarlla and bleeding.

 

You go to Skinnr and take his hand, leading him to Xemnes and Pendic. You see that both of them have been crying.

 

"What are we gonna do with her?" Xemnes asks.

 

"Let-Let's t-t-take h-her t-to the g-garden," you quietly say. Everyone nods.

 

"I'll get a blanket and meet you guys at the garden," Xemnes says.

 

You nod, and then you, Pendic, and Skinnr begin carrying Sarlla to the garden. It's afternoon by the time you three get there. Xemnes is already there waiting with a blanket. You guess he ran.

 

All three of you carefully wrap Sarlla, and then lay her down next to Lobran and Conrad. You cry again, and all of you place flowers on her. You hate Antemh for doing this. You decide to stay outside a little longer. Xemnes and Pendic go home, but Skinnr stays with you. He holds your hand.

 

"What do you want to do now?" he asks.

 

"L-Let's g-g-go for a w-walk." You squeeze his hand gently and start walking. His hand feels nice in yours.

 

You two stay out until the sun is setting. You tell him about the page. He enthuses that you only have to get through Wednesday tomorrow and then you can go home. You squeeze his hand and tell him you hope so. You and Skinnr go to the house and sit on the porch. You watch the sunset and describe it to him. He leans his head against yours. You sigh quietly.

 

When it's dark, you both go inside. Pendic is sitting on the staircase, crying. "P-P-Pendic wh-what h-h-happened?!"

 

Skinnr looks lost, and you squeeze his hands. Pendic hiccups and rubs at her eyes. "Xemnes left the house earlier and he isn't back yet and I'm scared!"

 

You stop and look at Skinnr. His eyebrows furrow. "He'll be back, yeah? Don't... Don't worry." He bites his lip, looking worried.

 

You kneel down and let go of Skinnr's hand to hug Pendic tightly. You kiss her forehead and assure her Xemnes will be fine. She's unsure, but she accepts it anyways. Deciding that all three of you will get up early in the morning to start looking for Xemnes, you tell Skinnr and Pendic to go to bed. Skinnr's wiggles, unsure.

 

"Can I sleep in your room?" he asks shyly.

 

 

You tell Skinnr he can. He asks if he can sleep in your bed with you. You also tell him yes, trusting him not to pull anything.

 

All three of you go upstairs and change into your pajamas. You climb into your bed and Pendic climbs into hers, and Skinnr shyly scoots into yours and snuggles up to you. You hug him to yourself protectfully. You stay awake for a while, and listen as Pendic and Skinnr fall asleep. You pet Skinnr's hair, and eventually fall asleep yourself.

 

...

...

 

When you wake up, you're the first one awake. Skinnr is still snuggling you, and you hear Pendic quietly breathing above you. You kiss Skinnr's forehead before getting up and sliding out of bed. You get some clothes and go take a shower.

 

...

 

When you come back to the room, Pendic and Skinnr are still asleep. You walk to the bed, and shake Skinnr's shoulder. He groans, trying to escape your shaking, but you eventually get him up. He rubs his face, then looks around. "Any idea where my glasses are?"

 

You hand them to him, and he puts them on, then yawns. You stand on your tip toes and poke Pendix until she's awake as well. You wait for them to get dressed and such, and then you all meet down in the kitchen. Skinnr opens the fridge for food and reaches in, then screams.

 

You walk to the fridge and open it all the way, then try to stop yourself from screaming as well. Xemnes's dead body is stuffed into the fridge. You feel like throwing up. And by the looks of it, he might have been in there all night. You have the sudden urge to cry. Pendic looks horrified.

 

You run out of the kitchen, and since you can't make it to either bathroom in time, you run out the front door and throw up into the grass. Your throat burns from stomach acid, and there's not much to throw up since you haven't eaten much in the past days. You cry, and you hear someome come out the front door. You feel a gentle hand on your back. It's Pendic. She presses a wet napkin into your hand, and you wipe your mouth, still feeling sick. She pets your back, then hugs you when you stand straight. You sniffle, and hug her tightly. "I w-want t-t-to g-go home."

 

Pendic nods. She brings you upstairs and you brush your teeth and use some mouthwash, and then you come back downstairs. You see Skinnr already got Xemnes out of the fridge, but his friend is stuck in the position he was in when he was in the fridge. Skinnr is sobbing, hugging his friend's dead body.

 

You ask Pendic to go and get a blanket for Xemnes. She rushes upstairs, and soon she's back with a sheet for Xemnes. You don't force Skinnr to help as you and Pendic wrap Xemnes to the best of your ability. You bring Skinnr along when you take him to the garden. Skinnr holds onto Xemnes's hand through the sheet,and he cries the entire way to the garden. You feel yourself start to cry, too. Pendic is the only one left quiet.

 

When you three reach the garden, you lay him down, and then pick some flowers and lay them on Xemnes. You three are quiet, and it's late afternoon by the time you finish. You and Skinnr decide to go back to the house. Pendic tells you she'll be home later. You feel worried, but you remember that there hadn't been any other pages. You lead Skinnr home.

 

You two spend the afternoon on the couch, talking. The day seems to pass quickly, and Pendic comes back around sunset. You feel visibly relieved. Pendic is scruffed up and dirty. "P-Pendic wh-wh-why a-are you s-s-so d-dirty?" you ask, concerned.

 

Pendic rubs her cheek with her sleeve. "Run in with Antemh," she says quietly. Your heart beats quickly and you rush to her.

 

"A-A-Are you o-okay d-did he h-hurt you?!"

 

Pendic shakes her head. "I'm not hurt." You shake and hug her tightly.

 

 

You pet Pendic's hair and check her for injuries anyways. The worst you find is a scraped knee. You sigh, shaking, and hug her to yourself tightly. "P-Pendic I-I-I w-was s-so w-worried a-about you."

 

Pendic hugs you back, and you hear her crying quietly. You nuzzle her shoulder and pet her hair, gently shushing her and you kiss her head.

 

"Let's g-g-go to b-bed," you say quietly. "Th-The f-ferry c-c-comes t-tomorrow."

 

Skinnr and Pendic nod. You take Skinnr's hand and you wrap your other arm around Pendic's shoulders. You lead them both upstairs. Pendic washes off, then comes to bed. You and Skinnr don't bother changing into pajamas.

 

You all fall asleep.

 

...

...

 

You wake up to Pendic calling your name from downstairs frantically. Skinnr is already sitting up in bed. You take Skinnr's hand, and you rush downstairs with him. It's about afternoon, and you're surprised you slept in this late. When you stop in the living room, you don't see what you expected.

 

Antemh is on the couch, rope bounding him so he can't move. His head leans back on the back of the sofa and he breathes shallowly. He looks sunburnt and dehydrated. Pendic looks to you, standing beside the couch, then smiles a little. She has an axe in her hand.

 

You stare, holding Skinnr's hand tightly. Words come to your mouth but you have a hard time saying them. Skinnr shifts.

 

"What's happening?"

 

Pendic leans against the arm of the couch, and swings the axe a little. She looks to you expectantly. "I.. don-don't kn-know," you say quietly. Your brain doesn't accept what's happening. "P-Pendic, y-you... y-you c-c-caught him, r-right? W-Was th-that wh-wh-where y-you we-went l-last n-night? T-To c-catch An-Antemh?"

 

Pendic smiles a little. "No. I've had him tied up to a tree since before Brusli was killed."

 

You can't make yourself understand. "Wh-Wh... H-He es-escaped th-though??"

 

"You don't get it, do you?" Pendic deadpans. She then smiles, eyes lighting up. " _I_ am the killer. Not Antemh, no. I gave Aissil a glass full of acid to drink. I smothered Dadevu with her pillow. I told Acklin I had to go get my towel, then slipped into the bathroom through the window and stabbed Conrad. I asked Kinpoh to a game of pool and rammed a cue stick through her chest. I asked Acklin to go swimming with me, then I drowned her and snuck back in bed. I set a gun trap so that as soon as Brusli opened the back door the gun shot her. I lured Growen into the living room and hanged her. I snuck to the forest and shot Lobran. I pushed Arsoni down the stairs. I pushed Sarlla off the cliff. I shoved Xemnes into the fridge." She smiles wickedly. "And all of you were dumb enough to believe it was Antemh. All according to plan."

 

Pendic swings the axe around, smiling. You can't believe what you're hearing. You feel tears well in your eyes. "Why?! Don-Don't you f-f-feel b-bad for k-killing you-your friends?!"

 

She pauses, considering it. Then she smiles. "Actually, I don't feel anything. No feelings at all. Every feeling I've shown up to this point? Acting." She smiles sweetly, before deadpanning. "I don't care. I literally, do not care. Watch."

 

You cry out as she swings the axe and cuts Antemh's arm. It's not deep enough to cut his arm off. He cries out, tears falling down his face. He shivers weakly. You cry out as she swings the axe and cuts Antemh's arm. It's not deep enough to cut his arm off. He cries out, tears falling down his face. He shivers weakly. "I _was_ going to cut off his head. 'He passed one particular man, being hung on trial. The man's face was set in stone as he was positioned for the guillotine. He glanced around at the crowd. When asked for his final words, he spoke: "I am not guilty." Then his head was chopped off,'" Pendic said, reciting the format of a page. She smiled.  
  
"And for you Aniese, your page was this: 'Last but not least, a shy girl of good intent. A nice woman who thinks lowly of herself. She may be terrified of strangers, but who she should really be terrified of are friends.'" She beamed.

 

You hesitate, then you run at Pendic. She smiles and swings the axe at you, and it knicks your arm. You grab her wrist, and it's a struggle between you two. Your heart beats quickly, and you bite her neck harshly, feeling blood start to drip down your chin. It's a quick fight, instinct taking over. You grab the axe from her hand, and before you can think about what you're doing, you swing it into her head. There's a sick noise of bone cracking, and you gasp, letting go of the axe. Pendic falls backwards, and you freeze, staring at her.

 

You stare at your best friend for a moment. She's dead. The axe sticks out of her head, and then you kneel down, starting to cry. You tug the tool from her head and toss it aside, holding her close to you. There were no ceremonial last words. No badass looks or anything. The fight was over in five minutes. And now you're the killer. You killed your best friend. You hold Pendic to your body, sobbing. You can't believe she would ever do anything this bad. Your heart feels like it's breaking. Skinnr lets you cry, but kneels down next to you. You sob for a long while, shoulders shaking. Skinnr pets your hair and hugs your arm. You hear a faint foghorn. The ferry is here.

 

You stay where you are, cradling Pendic in your arms. Skinnr kisses your cheek gently, then feels his way over to Antemh. He uses the axe to cut the ropes carefully. He asks Antemh to lead him to the ferry so he can get help for everyone. Antemh has a hard time walking, but agrees to.

 

You're soon left alone in the house. You hold Pendic to yourself, trying to convince yourself that she didn't kill anyone. It couldn't have been her. You must have done it. You can't believe it was her. You sob, and it feels like forever before you hear a loud noise outside the house. You hear the door open, and soon you feel hands on your shoulders. It's the Coast Guard, probably. You hear people talking to you but you don't know what they're saying. You cry but you don't say anything as they pull Pendic from you. One nice man leads you to a helicopter that's landed in the patch of grass. He tells you he'll go get your belongings. Skinnr shows him to yours, his, and Antemh's rooms. Two Coast Guards and Skinnr come back with all of your belongings in your bags. They hand Antemh his backpack and you yours. Skinnr scoots next to you. Antemh's on your other side. The nice man from earlier is getting him to drink some water, but not too quickly. You lean against Skinnr, still crying. Skinnr hugs you tightly and begins to tell you what he told the people on the ferry and that they called the Coast Guard on their radio. You aren't listening. You just hug him back and stay quiet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
